Upon approval of the Ministry of Education of China , Guangzhou University (GU) was founded as a multi-disciplinary institution on July 11, 2000 by merging the tertiary institutions previously known as Guangzhou Normal University , South China College of Construction, Guangzhou University , Guangzhou Junior Teachers College . As a comprehensive university, GU is affiliated to Guangzhou Municipal People's Government and Guangdong Province Government, while the larger part of the University's administration is subject to Guangzhou Municipal People's Government.

The university covers a total area of 131.7 hectares, with a building space of 596,000 square meters in Guangzhou University Town . Its well-stocked library has a total collection of 1,960,000 books.

GU makes Guangzhou the basis of its development and involves itself in Guangdong Province as well as the whole of China and the outside world. While the undergraduate program remains the dominant part of its operation, GU is fully committed to consolidating and expanding its postgraduate programs and international students program. The University comprises 18 schools and 6 colleges. The university is currently authorized to run 17 postgraduate programs. It also offers 62 undergraduate programs with a disciplinary coverage of 8 categories, including Principles of Education, Literature, Law, Science, Engineering, Management, and Economics.